Be Real
by DragonSorceress22
Summary: This, KID thought, was what someone reaching their limit looked like.


Beta'd by solomonara. My assessment when I sent it to her: "mopey and indulgent with a side of ill-advised romance" :P Her assessment: "Pretty sure you wrote this because Shinichi and Kaito were having too much fun in Fall into Flying." She's partially right XD You can check her out on AO3.

kaishin/shinkai, emotional hurt/comfort, makeouts, get-together fic, one-shot

_Be Real_

This, KID thought, was what someone reaching their limit looked like.

He had watched Kudou Shinichi's mental and emotional fortitude deteriorate at each heist he attended as Edogawa Conan. It was wearing on him, confusing him and exhausting him, and his response these days seemed to be to work harder at cornering KID. He'd gotten quite good at it, actually.

And then he'd begun a pattern of cornering KID then blatantly letting him go – not even asking for the jewels back – in ways that seemed so condescending and insulting to KID that the first two times it happened he was mostly just pissed. But as it went on he'd been able to see around his own pride and began to grow concerned. Not that he'd known what to do about it. Once – just once – KID had tried to ask him what was wrong, but the look of anguish on the young face before the detective had hurried away from KID without another word had been horrifying, and he hadn't tried again.

It was months later that KID heard of the fall of a far-reaching crime syndicate, and the resulting shockwaves through the criminal underground had given him the opening he'd needed to bring down his father's murderer and those hunting Pandora once and for all.

It wasn't common knowledge that Kudou Shinichi had been the lynchpin in the takedown, but KID knew, and he couldn't help wondering, even _hoping_ that this resolution had brought the troubled young detective some long-needed peace.

KID had made the decision to continue stealing – to truly make the name _KID_ his own, change his purpose, and do some good instead of hanging up the legacy forever. For him, a large part of KID was revenge, but he didn't want that to be the be-all, end-all. KID was also magic and fun and believing in the impossible and he wasn't ready to let that die.

So here he was, at the end of another heist… and so, somehow, was Kudou Shinichi. Not Edogawa Conan. Kudou Shinichi, as he ought to be, and KID had to swallow back a certain degree of nervousness at facing him now.

Everyone else – the police, the fans – had already cleared out, but Shinichi had managed to corner him again. Here. Where he had been sure no one had followed. Sure no one had known he'd disguised as a taxi driver and actually taken a few customers for good measure before coming to one of his safehouses because it was late and he didn't want to travel back to Ekoda yet. He'd just barely managed to catch a sense of the detective's presence in time – just barely managed to make it back into full KID regalia before Shinichi had walked through the door.

KID got over his surprise without showing that it had ever been there at all, but he decided to play it safe, standing across from Shinichi with his hands in his pockets, just observing him without saying or doing much else. Shinichi just closed the door behind him and waited. KID was standing with a window at his back. They both knew he could leave, but it would be a risk – he'd prefer not to surrender this place to a detective. He couldn't use it as a safehouse anymore, but he'd need to strip it for evidence before he could abandon it.

_Well then,_ KID thought, just a little wary. A little tired. _Maybe it's time to try again. _

"Tantei-kun," KID said, and he saw Shinichi relax marginally. That was interesting. "Why are you doing this?" he asked. "Why do you chase me down with _fervent_ determination and then let me go like you don't want anything to do with me?" And if he sounded just a little hurt, a little broken, here at the end of his first heist unshackled from his revenge and standing before the detective he'd come to see as an anchoring constant in his life, maybe that was understandable. Or maybe he just told himself that it was.

Shinichi took a slow, deep breath and a step forward. "I've been watching, KID," he told him. "I've been watching how you act with everyone else and watching how you act when it's just you and me." He paused and seemed to need to focus on breathing for just a moment before he continued. "I do it for the moments when you're real."

KID blinked, his head coming up and his shoulders easing back all so subtly – a physical response to his surprise and interest. And then he was aware he'd done it and it was too late because he knew Shinichi had seen the movement and read it and felt that KID had proven him right. "And then I realized," Shinichi said, his voice noticeably stronger now as he took another easy few steps into the room. "That what I was really after were the moments when _I make _you real. Those moments… they were satisfying, you know?"

KID was watching him in a stunned sort of silence and he saw Shinichi's face change, taking on a shadow of the anguish KID had never wanted to see again, his eyes now locked on the floor instead of on KID.

"But I also did it because there's something I needed to tell you and I never could before, as much as I wanted to. And I was frustrated, so I chased you, just… because I needed to, and I let you go because I had to. And I need to confess something." He looked up to meet KID's eyes again, slow and deliberate, and KID was undeniably confused, but also raptly interested. He felt like a fool for meeting Shinichi's gaze so blatantly. Like he was hanging on his every word. Never mind that he _was._ "I want to see how real you actually _are,_" Shinichi said."No more masks and false names. I want you to give me that.

"I… really like you, KID. So that's what I want. And I'm asking for it."

He fell silent again, still standing straight, still meeting KID's eyes, and waited. Waited to see if this was something he could have.

To KID, it was like seeing Shinichi undone. He looked calm and collected and proud as ever, but this was _begging_, and KID felt a rush inside him like fire. It was the heat of anger and protectiveness… _possessiveness_, and something distant that he didn't recognize in himself. He was stunned for long enough – didn't answer for long enough that Shinichi breathed out, "I'm starting to think I've just had the wrong idea entirely here…" He took a step back, his hand reaching out behind him for the door handle, and KID panicked because this broken mess of a detective was barely holding himself together but he'd still found KID here, alone, and now he was going to leave him behind again and Kaito had the horrible feeling that he wouldn't be coming back.

KID rushed forward and grabbed Shinichi's arm, pulling him away from the door and further into the room. "Don't," he said.

Shinichi stopped, just staring until KID abruptly pulled his hand back like an embarrassed highschooler with a crush. He almost groaned, wishing he could take the motion back, but a moment later he'd forgotten all about it because Shinichi had caught his eyes again and insisted, "Why not?" rapt and eager, like he'd already seen through KID completely. And really, he probably had.

"…Because," KID said, and his voice sounded as small as he felt. "You may not have… _entirely_ the wrong idea."

Eyes still locked on KID's, Shinichi said, "If you just keep standing there, I'm going to kiss you."

Kaito's whole brain stalled. "Wh-What?"

"If you don't want me to, you should say something."

KID's mouth closed and he blinked at Shinichi, still trying to determine if he'd misheard, but when Shinichi grabbed the front of KID's jacket and stepped up to him, meeting his eyes, KID stopped trying, stopped everything, and closed his eyes as Shinichi tilted his head and leaned in to touch a hesitant, chaste kiss against KID's lips.

Suddenly that feeling in him wasn't so distant or unrecognizable anymore, and it was KID who moved abruptly for a second kiss, pressing forward against Shinichi to catch his lips again almost before he'd even pulled away. He felt Shinichi's grip on his jacket ease and his fingers edge down to unfasten it, hands pushing past to slide against KID's sides and pull him closer.

Kaito was more willing than he thought he'd be to let himself be drawn in. He wrapped his arms around Shinichi and bit gently at his lip, but he hadn't been expecting Shinichi to let him in, or to feel Shinichi's tongue venturing out to meet his. By the time Shinichi broke away to catch his breath, KID's mind was clouded. He could hardly think around the sound of Shinichi's heavy breathing close by his ear.

But he snapped out of his haze abruptly when he heard Shinichi breathe out, "Show me your face."

KID froze in his grasp for just a second. "…No."

He felt Shinichi's hands twitch on his waist, but then KID was stealing the breath from him with another kiss, and only let him go when Shinichi's knees threatened to fold under him, his fingers clutching into KID's shirt for support. KID tightened his hold, pressing them together, and brought his lips to Shinichi's neck.

"Nn… Tell me your name…" Shinichi tried.

"No," KID said again. His hands had moved to Shinichi's hips, fingertips brushing over the skin above the waist of his pants, and he really wished he could lose the gloves, but that would be a bad idea. …Right?

"Why not?" Shinichi demanded and KID had to consciously recall that Shinichi was responding to his answer, not to his thoughts.

A laugh slipped free and KID murmured against Shinichi's skin, "…Because I'm scared."

Shinichi drew in a sharp breath, his head tipping back as KID found a particularly sensitive spot on his neck and began to suck lightly. "I scare you?" he just barely managed, incredulous.

"It's you," KID answered, and he might have shrugged but he was too busy exploring the way Shinichi's abs flexed under his hands as the detective strained to hold his ground while KID pressed forward against him.

"You gonna get over that soon or should I leave now?" Shinichi panted.

"You don't seem to be leaving," KID pointed out. "I'm calling your bluff."

"Call your own."

The detective just barely got the words out before attacking KID with another kiss. The next thing KID knew, Shinichi had hooked his foot around the back of KID's ankle and surged forward, knocking him back. They broke apart, KID taking in a startled breath as he fell onto the bed behind him. He could feel his cape pulling tight at his shoulders, caught under his body, but he didn't have time to try to move. Shinichi already had a knee up on the mattress between Kaito's legs, and then he was leaning over him, staring down into his still obscured face.

"You make me feel like I'm crazy," he said, and the words were a sharp accusation, blame and frustration bursting through them even as he continued, "I love you and I don't know who you are."

Kaito's breath stopped and he froze under Shinichi.

"Show me your face," Shinichi said. "…_Please_."

Kaito could feel every ounce of good sense he possessed drowning fast inside him. He felt it happening. He was aware of it. And it was absolutely frightening how much he didn't care. For a moment, Shinichi had sounded so _lost_ that Kaito did not want to stop himself as he felt his own arms moving, reaching up to remove the hat and monocle, one in each hand, and lay them aside. Shinichi swallowed hard, still staring down at him, and when he spoke again his voice was weak. "Please. Your name. Please."

"Kaito."

The name passed KID's lips like a rush of breath and he didn't care anymore. If this was what Shinichi wanted, if this was the cost of pulling the detective free of that lost and desperate confusion – of grounding him with something stable and real – he'd pay it.

"I'm Kuroba Kaito," KID said, and his voice was stronger when he added, "No more masks, Shinichi."

Shinichi's eyes were wide as he stared down at KID, and Kaito could see his arms about to give under his weight. Startled, Kaito sat up a little and caught him as Shinichi collapsed against his chest. Kaito pulled him further onto the bed, wrapping his arms around him and drawing his legs up to fold them against Shinichi's sides. The detective just clung to him.

"You're not crazy, Shinichi," Kaito murmured. "I'm real."

Shinichi raised his head slowly and stared up at Kaito and the thief felt an almost dizzying rush of relief when Shinichi smiled at him. He ducked his head and kissed him, just gently, but when he drew back again he murmured, "You know… I think you said something about wanting to see _how_ real you could make me." His tone was sly, slow and teasing, and the words held definite suggestion. Even challenge.

Something about Shinichi suddenly brightened, his eyes taking on a light that KID hadn't seen in far, far too long – excitement and thrill unweighted – and Kaito could hardly breathe. Shinichi shifted a little to sit up between KID's legs and he took hold of the red tie, undoing it with slow deliberation as Kaito's heart raced painfully fast, the feeling sweet and distracting until Shinichi spoke, his voice stealing Kaito's full attention.

"I've already seen it," he admitted, looking up through his lashes to meet KID's eyes for just a moment before looking back to the tie. "The night you tried to talk to me. Tried to ask me what was wrong. Offered to help me. You never showed a mask to me after that. The only thing left… was for me to lose mine." The tie slipped through his fingers onto the edge of the bed and, as he watched it go, Kaito watched him, captivated. When Shinichi finally looked up again to fully meet his gaze, he smirked.

"I can finally say it. Thank you, Kaito." He lunged forward, tackling Kaito back into the pillows and Kaito felt Shinichi's lips meet his own, careful but still hungry. He reached up and pulled the detective down on top of him, his fingers tangling into Shinichi's hair and clutching at the back of his shirt. He could feel Shinichi's heart racing just as fiercely as his own – strong and fast and _alive_, and it was everything he'd wanted and hoped for since the moment he'd first glimpsed his detective's pain.

"I love you."

The words tumbled out between their lips the moment he realized they were true, and Shinichi drew back just slightly to look down at the thief.

Kaito decided in that moment that the smile lighting up his detective's eyes was the most wonderful, all-consuming thing he would ever see.

.

**Be Real – Author's Note**

Moving sucks you guys. It must just be one of the necessary evils of the world cause I can't imagine ever running into somebody who would be like, "Oh yeah, moving. Moving is awesome. Can't wait to get me some more of that."

Anyway, I wrote this little indulgence while I was waiting on various painters and carpet people and furniture movers etc. to show up. I'm still working on Fall into Flying (omg SO LONG) so that'll happen… someday. Have I mentioned moving sucks? :P

Thanks for reading!

~DS


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